Mexican skeleton gives clue to American ancestry – “Naia’s mitochondrial DNA reveals genetic signatures in common with modern Native Americans, despite her very different skull shape. ‘You can never exclude that Native Americans have more than one group of ancestors,’ says Chatters. But his team’s data, he points out, are consistent with the idea that Native Americans evolved from Siberian ancestors…. The new DNA results indicate that the very different skulls of modern Native Americans have evolved on North American soil.” – see also jennifer raff.

An excess of X-chromosomal diversity in Africans – “‘Results show that X/A diversity is similar within each continental group but notably lower in European (EUR) and East Asian (ASN) populations than in African (AFR) populations.'” – @dienekes’.

Molecular genetic contributions to socioeconomic status and intelligence – “21% of the variation in education, 18% of the variation in socioeconomic status, and 29% of the variation in general cognitive ability was explained by variation in common SNPs (SEs ~ 5%). The SNP-based genetic correlations of education and socioeconomic status with general intelligence were 0.95 (SE 0.13) and 0.26 (0.16), respectively. There are genetic contributions to intelligence and education with near-complete overlap between common additive SNP effects on these traits (genetic correlation ~ 1). Genetic influences on socioeconomic status are also associated with the genetic foundations of intelligence. The results are also compatible with substantial environmental contributions to socioeconomic status.”

Short men are likely to live longer because they carry the ‘longevity gene’, scientists reveal – short japanese men… “The so-called ‘longevity gene’ FOXO3 has been proven to enhance lifespan in animal tests but has never before been linked to variations in height in humans. A new scientific study, the largest of its kind and involving more than 8,000 aging American-Japanese men in Hawaii, conclusively showed a direct connection between short height and long life. FOXO3, they found, leads to smaller body size during early development and a longer lifespan overall. Short men were also more likely to have lower blood insulin levels and less likely to get cancer.” – h/t eddy elmer!

The Creativity of Civilisations – “A part of the variation in ‘civilisational accomplishments’ is certainly due to the different regional evolution of ability. Nonetheless, *holding ability constant*, it looks like scale effects also account for a big part of the variation.” – from pseudoerasmus.

Amorality of selected countries – “What Jonathan Haidt terms ‘WEIRD’ societies (read the modern West) tend to the least judgmental, followed by East Asia and the more European nations of Latin America, with sub-Saharan African and Muslim countries the most morally righteous (!). Descartes wept.” – from the awesome epigone.

The coerced consensus – “What is going on in academia when demonising and silencing your opponents has become so acceptable? It’s not just climate change. The nature-nurture debate is also policed by zealots, although less so than in the 1970s when any mention of genes and behaviour led to accusations of fascism…. Truly, the old joke is becoming ever more true: what’s the opposite of diversity? University.” – from matt ridley.

Stanford scholar shows Koreans and Americans tackle moral dilemmas using different brain regions – very small sample size, but… “Korean participants showed greater activity in brain regions associated with intuition, approximation and emotions: the putamen, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the postcentral sulcus. Han posits that Korean participants consciously controlled their initial emotional reactions (such as disgust) to reach a decision that protected the largest number of people. In contrast, Americans took longer to ponder dilemmas that involved physically harming particular people. They also relied on brain regions associated with conflict management and, to a lesser degree, novelty: the anterior cingulate cortex and the frontopolar cortex. Han hypothesizes that Americans are exposed to socio-personal conflict more often than Koreans, whose society values social harmony over the expression of individual desires.”